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Europe's Data Grab

In a trend that has spooked Silicon Valley, senior EU officials are flirting with the idea of forcing companies to store and retain at least some of their data in Europe.

“It’s not in line with EU positioning,” Thomas Boué of the Microsoft-backed trade group the Software Alliance (BSA), said of potential moves to keep data stored in Europe.

The groundswell of support is increasingly putting the tech community on edge, including a newly formed lobby named the Global Data Alliance devoted to protecting free data flows.

According to Boué of BSA, which founded the lobby, comments by EU officials on data localization illustrate why the group is needed. Breton's comments "were not a deciding factor, but they show the alliance is important,” he said.

Express Computer, June 3, 2020. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people are working, learning, and accessing health services from home for the first time. Governments, businesses, and individuals are increasingly relying on software to help their communities thrive in the emerging remote economy. To address these opportunities and challenges, BSA | The Software Alliance released a Response & Recovery Agenda with recommendations for how governments in every country can support the remote economy now and in the future.